Andy Pettitte gives pep talk to up-and-coming Yankees

Andy Pettitte, who had his number retired last season, gives Yankee youngsters some advice on succeeding at the major league level. (Andrew Theodorakis/ for New York Daily News)

TAMPA - A familiar face emerged from the Yankees' minor-league complex late Monday afternoon, his hair flecked with gray. No, Andy Pettitte is not contemplating another comeback - too bad, he looked fit - but he was in town to offer words of wisdom that perhaps one day will help a future generation of Yankee stars.

Pettitte spoke to a group of minor leaguers as part of the Yanks' "Captain's Camp," a pre-spring training gathering invented by Gary Denbo, the former hitting coach who runs the organization's player development system. Ex-stars return to share insight into making it in the majors in pinstripes.

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Pettitte, who retired after the 2013 season, said he spoke in a classroom to the group of 20 youngsters about "the attention to detail that big leaguers have" and used himself as an example.

Later in his career, he prepared for a bullpen session like he would for a game. As a kid, though? "When I first showed up down here, I was just kind of running out to the bullpen, putting (my) cleats on," Pettitte said, smiling.

"Listen, I did this when I was y'all's age," he said he told the players. "I wish I would've done better."

He said one of his main messages was to "try to talk to them about the commitment it takes to get to the big-league level and some different things, goal-setting, just some little things I learned over the years to help me."

Another takeaway? "I would want them to learn how to be great teammates, to care for one another." That, Pettitte says, takes away some of the stress of big-league baseball.

Pettitte clearly enjoyed himself, noting that he threw a half-hour of batting practice at the complex, too. "If I'm going to be here, y'all ought to use me," Pettitte said. When someone asked if the prospects had hit any homers off him, Pettitte grinned and said, "The wind was blowing out. (Aaron) Judge, I think, hit a couple on Dale Mabry (Boulevard, a main thoroughfare that runs well beyond the fences of two of the complex's four fields).

Judge didn't only get a few Pettitte meatballs out of the experience - the outfield prospect seemed to relish Pettitte's talk, too. "He shared some stuff with us, it was really good," Judge said. "He had a lot of good information."

Judge, a leader of the group along with Brady Lail, wouldn't be specific about Pettitte's talk, saying it was "just kind of something for us."

Judge likes the program, though. "We get the chance to talk to older veterans and scouts and our staff, how they played and respected the game," he said. "That's great. A lot of guys don't get the chance to hear from them."

Talking to ex-Yankees was vital to Pettitte when he played, too, so when Denbo reached out to Pettitte, he was happy to participate. "He (Denbo) is trying to get a lot of the former players to pour into these guys," Pettitte said.

"For me, it was the coolest to have Yogi (Berra) and see Whitey (Ford) and see Gator (Ron Guidry) around and the guys that you knew were kind of the Yankee legends when I was coming up. I would just talk to them, sitting around."

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Pettitte acknowledged that being back in Yankeeland, even if it were only for a little while, brought back wonderful memories. He's fully immersed in his home life back in the Houston area, though, so he sounds like he's unlikely for any sort of coaching commitment in the near-future. Before he drove off Monday, he was talking about how he would fly home Tuesday just in time to make one of his kid's games. That's the kind of stuff he wasn't able to do during his own playing career.

But he'd like to be back for a brief stint during spring training, if everyone's schedule fits. "I'm going to try to, but I have to see the kids' games, the way it works out," Pettitte said. "I love being down here, love being around these young guys.

"It's extremely important to me, also, because of what the Yankees have been to me."